Wow. In one of the finest displays of sportsmanship I've seen in show choir, GCS's director volunteered to switch spots with Power Company so The Current and Po Co don't have to go consecutively. I love show choir.
I wondered why GCS moved from performing in the 6th spot to the 3rd spot. Classy move, Mr. Esser!
I just wanna say how amazing this whole competition was! I had an absolute blast. I met some amazing people from Waconia and the stress from the competition never seemed to get to anyone. Every person I talked to was so friendly and supportive. I only had the chance to see Waconia in the day and in finals and I saw Onalaska in finals. Both shows were so good. Thank you to everyone for making it such a great experience for me! Definitely a great way to spend my last Logan competition
Congrats to everyone who competed! It was a great competition, very glad I made the trip back.
Ok, round two, here we go.
GCS - Wow. You really blew me away. I loved your ballad and your closer so much! They definitely seemed to be the most challenging and most creative numbers. I absolutely loved how every individual shined on stage. Your show was not only well executed, but very entertaining. The guy's costumes with the capes are so cool! They look like drum corps uniforms. I was actually thinking the other day about how cool it would be to base show choir costumes on the Blue Devils' uniforms with the capes and what not. As fantastic as you are this year, I have to say I am disappointed in the judge who gave you a perfect score the other week. Perfection doesn't exist in show choir, and anyone who thinks otherwise is sadly mistaken. I was not there to see that performance, but I know there must have been at least one tiny thing that could have been better. Never stop trying to improve, because the easiest mistake you can make is to think you're good enough. Congratulations to Eric for winning best performer in GCS! It's a blast watching you on stage, and it was very nice to meet you! Once again, great job GCS! You have a new fan.
Waconia Power Company - As one of your biggest fans (obviously) I am also one of your harshest critics. I often judge how well you perform by the amount I smile uncontrollably and get choked up. Your prelims performance was good, but it just didn't really have that effect on me. In finals, it felt like watching a completely different choir! Everyone was so much more emotionally invested, and your vocals sounded much more mature! I couldn't help but crack a huge smile as soon as Masquerade started. Then, I started getting choked up like nobody's business, and I knew you were going to have a fantastic show. You NEED to have that level of intensity during prelims at every competition! I know that having a less-than-amazing prelims show hasn't really come back to haunt you competitively, but trust me when I say it is a huge risk. I know that Olson preaches the necessity of giving it your all in prelims, but I'm not sure if some of the younger members can really grasp this idea. Treat every performance like it is your last, and aim to be better every single time. Great job everyone! I'll see you all at Star Power and possibly in Chicago.
RIG - Excellent work! I was in the front row clapping and cheering with Cece during both prelims and finals. As I've told numerous people, I love your show this year. It's so much fun to watch! Your choreography is some of the coolest, most challenging choreography I saw all day. Congrats to the winner of the best female solo award (I'm so bad with names), you were amazing! Be proud of your performances this past weekend, they really were great.
Davenport Central - Before I make any comments, I feel like I need to address this:
Had our best performance in the day time all year and got 6th place.
I know how it feels. When I was in Power Company, it often felt like our best performances went unnoticed by the judges. You have to keep in mind something that took me far too many disappointing competitions to remember. Competing is fun, but the real reason to perform is for your love of doing so. Who cares what a few people in the back think! If you are up there giving it your all and loving every second of it, then nothing else should matter. Having that feeling of leaving the stage knowing you gave it your all is so much more rewarding than a stupid plastic trophy. Those feelings stick with you when you graduate. I don't remember my experiences in show choir by the number of trophies we took home to collect dust, I remember them by the amazing emotions performing brought out of me. Also, making finals is a large competitive accomplishment, whether you're in first or sixth after prelims. You had to beat some fantastic choirs to make finals, try to keep that in mind.
As for your performances this past weekend, I thought you were great! You improved so much between prelims and finals, and it shows by the results. You managed to jump all the way up to 3RU while every other competing group improved as well! That's incredible. Your dancing was very clean, and the energy you put into your show was very impressive. If there is one thing that bothered me about your show, it's that I couldn't grasp who you were as characters in a show, or as people in real life (I say characters because performers often have to do some acting to fully connect with the music). I just wished that your personalities could shine through your faces and possibly your movements during transitions as well. There were one or two people who seemed to be working towards this, but for the most part, there were all too many smiles plastered on faces for the sake of uniformity. Maybe your director feels differently about this factor, and if that were the case, then I would respect you for following their advice. However, if this issue hasn't been addressed, I would encourage you to consider adding it to your show. It will take you miles, I promise.
Onalaska - I really enjoyed watching your show! The plot is very interesting. You had very great performances! There were some fantastic soloists as well. Congratulations to the winner of the best male solo award! Your operatic solo was very refreshing. That's a rare thing to hear in show choir, and you pulled it off wonderfully. I had the pleasure of meeting you before finals, and you were so nice! I was very glad to meet so many genuine people at this competition. Great job Hilltoppers!
Waconia The Current - Wooooooo!! It wasn't a mix-up! Congratulations on making finals! I love watching you perform so much. I was just telling Alexandra how watching you comforts me. It has made me realize how much Waconia's choir program has grown, and reassures me that Power Company will have access to an enormous amount of talented performers to choose from for next year. I feel bad for the Waconia staff, I know I wouldn't want to have to choose only a small number of you to join the ranks of Po Co. The male performers are extremely impressive this year. Great job! I can't wait to see you all again! Oh, and David, way to handle all of the mishaps! I was really excited to see how you would handle first the hat then the microphone ninja kick. You handled everything so naturally! Way to think on your feet!
Class Act - Great job with both performing and hosting this year! Your show has grown a lot since I saw it last in Eau Claire. I've had Blame it on the Boogie stuck in my head since Saturday (partially from The Current as well). I absolutely love the ripple at the "I just can't control my feet" part! It's so cool! You boys really know how to work the crowd. Congratulations on such a successful day!
I've officially exhausted my fingers yet again. I know I missed a lot of groups, but I thoroughly enjoyed every performance I watched. Great job everyone!
As always Logan is a great competition to go to! Thanks so much for putting on a great competition! Congrats to all the groups who competed. I'm so proud of GCS. Also, the Logan skit was great! Thanks for everything Logan!
Judges were: Kathryn Skemp, Mark Mangold, Tim Rortvedt, Andrew Cao, Kevin Chase (Critique only), Tina Thieln-Gaffey, Mark Laakman (band only). Janette Hanson (solos only)
I meant to do thumbs up. Sorry.
Judges were: Kathryn Skemp, Mark Mangold, Tim Rortvedt, Andrew Cao, Kevin Chase (Critique only), Tina Thieln-Gaffey, Mark Laakman (band only). Janette Hanson (solos only)
Whoever made the postings on top for finals awards,
Current did not get 1st Runner up, Power Company did. Please correct that.
I'm not sure who did that, but I apologize for the error. I will talk to the crew about it.
Whoever made the postings on top for finals awards,
Current did not get 1st Runner up, Power Company did. Please correct that.
I saw that up top and I was like SAY WHAAT. That would have been a crazy shock to the show choir world!
Logan Showcase 2012
